Sir: John Laffin is free to express his debatable opinions
on the Journal of Palestine Studies, but I must object to his appallingly inaccurate statement that the Journal publishes 'anti-semitic material.' The Journal, which has several Jewish contributors, would be completely opposed to any material which was biased against Jews as such, or which suggested that Jews ought not to have the same human, civil, religious or political rights as anybody else, or that they have intrinsically different qualities from other people. It should be noted that the Journal, which publishes a wide variety of analytical articles including those critical of Arab policies, has received several favourable reviews in American Jewish periodicals and much encouragement from its Jewish subscribers.
Laffin's accusation of anti-semitism, like the rest of his critique, completely misrepresents the intellectual atmosphere and research activities of the Arab world, which are reflected in the Journal. Among the Arab intelligentsia today there is a realisation of the need for serious analysis and documentation of the Palestine problem, and the Journal attempts to provide this through its local and international contributors and its documentary sections. It is true that there is a common belief among Arab intellectuals that the best ultimate solution to the Palestine problem would be a political framework in which both today's Israeli Jews, and Palestinian Muslims and Christians now in exile or under occupation, would coexist peacefully enjoying equal rights with Palestine. But while this position contradicts present Israeli and Zionist policy, in no meaningful sense can it be described as anti-semitic.
Editor, Hisham Sharabi Journal of Palestine Studies P.O. Box 7164 Beirut, Lebanon.
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